Sunday, March 29, 2009

In Memoriam: Maurice Jarre

Film composer Maurice Jarre died today. Best known for his Oscar-winning scores for the films Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago(1965), and a Passage to India (1984). Jarre's compositions from those films became widely covered radio and Easy Listening standards. It's impossible to recall Doctor Zhivago without thinking of Jarre's Lara's Theme. His collaborations with director David Lean remain one of the great composer-director partnerships in movie history. Younger readers may remember his moving score for 1989's Dead Poet's Society, particularly the touching finale, with Keating's students paying tribute to their "fallen Captain", played by Robin Williams. Maurice Jarre was 84. Rest in peace, maestro.

Somewhere My Love: Jarre's 'Lara's Theme' is one of the great musical melodies of the 1960s.

2 comments:

Aw no. That's so very sad. I was just listening to his score to the third Mad Max movie this weekend too, and wishing his score to Island at the Top of the World was available. He scored so many movies I like.